


Bite Me

by crownjules



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, M/M, Vampires, just cheesiness in general im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-01 13:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14521428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownjules/pseuds/crownjules
Summary: Chanyeol's heart is open to all creatures big or small, he just didn't expect the injured bat that he found by the side of the road to turn into a vampire. He also didn't expect said vampire to be so cute.





	Bite Me

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #: L91  
> Pairing: Chanyeol/Kai  
> Monsters: Vampires  
> Rating: T  
> Warnings: None  
> Word Count: 12.6k  
> Author's Note: shoutout to k for making everything i write better and shoutout to c for letting me complain about this nonstop and helping me when i got stuck u guys are the best. and thank you to the mods for all your hard work!!!

Chanyeol has always walked through life with the philosophy that all creatures are friends; even if it often got him into a fair amount of trouble. Like the time he brought a poor little mouse home because he found it struggling in a trap and the sight broke his eight year old heart. Or the time he found a stray dog rummaging through the dumpsters behind McDonalds and took it home for a warm meal and a quick bath. Arguably the situation with the mouse was worse because his mom got so angry that she took away his Game Boy for a week, while he and the dog ended up being buddies for life (even if it was a mean little thing that would bite anyone who got too close—but it would snuggle up to young Chanyeol with all the trust in the world).

His childhood home had been a revolving door of all sorts of strange creatures just waiting to be loved by him, so it’s no surprise that when Chanyeol finds the tiny vampire bat struggling on the side of the road, the only thinkable course of action is to take it home and nurse it back to health. 

It’s a lovely day in early spring; nice enough that when Chanyeol got off work a few hours earlier than usual, he decided to walk home in order to soak up remaining rays of the afternoon sunshine. It had only figured that Chanyeol’s love of animals would lead him down a path to working with them; and since he was in his second year of residency at the city zoo that meant Chanyeol got to spend his days looking after all sorts of animals far more exotic than cats and dogs. He was getting paid to be with animals all day, it was a dream job. 

When Chanyeol first spots the bat he does a double-take. It’s not unheard of to see such an animal in the city but even with the sun setting it’s still too early for the creature to be out—they are nocturnal after all. But then he sees that the bat is crawling, almost pitifully, it’s wing bent at an odd angle that must be horribly painful. The poor thing.

“Hey there little guy,” Chanyeol murmurs softly, “how about I take you home and we try and fix you up.” 

He picks up the animal as gently as possible, doing his best to not bend it’s wing any more out of shape. He brings him up to his face to get a good look at the creature. The large pointy ears and snub nose are characteristics that most people would find ugly, but Chanyeol is not most people so he finds the creature positively adorable; even when it bares its teeth at him, tiny and razor sharp. The action just makes Chanyeol coo, and he uses his index finger to pet it between the ears. 

Tucking him into the opening of his windbreaker, Chanyeol stands up so he can head home. Now that the sun is setting, the spring breeze has a bite to it, and Chanyeol wants to get him home as quickly as possible. 

 

 

“Tobennie, I’m home!” Chanyeol calls when he pushes the door to his apartment open. A small mop of black fur comes bounding at him, jumping at his legs with little yips. “I brought home a friend but you’re gonna have to be gentle with him.” He continues, holding out the bat for Toben to sniff and hopefully get familiar with. 

Toben sniffs curiously at the creature covered in Chanyeol’s grasp, nosing Chanyeol’s palm to try and get closer. The bat is squirming feebly, no doubt alarmed at the larger animal, so once Chanyeol is relatively certain that Toben isn’t going to bite, he pulls it away and gets straight to work.

There’s really not much he can do for it without proper medical tools and equipment, but he figures he can at least assess the damage and give the poor thing some painkillers until he can take it into work first thing in the morning. Once he’s finished with that, he creates a soft nest of blankets and towels in a laundry basket and gently places the creature on top, murmuring small reassurances while stroking in between it’s eyes to hopefully soothe it to sleep. 

He hates that he can’t immediately fix the creature up, but at least it’s safe in his care where any large predators can’t get to it. 

Except maybe his dog. 

With that thought in mind, Chanyeol carries the laundry basket into the laundry room, refluffing the towels in hopes that his little friend is comfortable. Then he shuts off the light and makes sure to close the door behind him.

After the whole ordeal, Chanyeol is too exhausted to cook, so he orders a pizza and flicks on the television, cuddling with Toben on the couch while he waits.

 

 

He sets his alarm early for the next morning, so that he can get the injured bat into work as soon as possible. Yawning, Chanyeol makes his way to the laundry room to check on his friend. Hopefully the little guy is doing better today. Only when he opens the door, there is a pair of very long legs sticking out of the laundry basket where he last set the poor creature. Chanyeol jumps back with a yelp, flattening himself against the wall while he tries to calm the erratic beating of his heart. He takes a deep breath before steeling himself to peek around the corner. 

Yep. Definitely human legs; they’re attached to a body of a man who is sleeping curled up in the very laundry basket Chanyeol had left his injured friend the previous night. Surprisingly, Chanyeol’s outburst hadn’t disturbed the man at all—he appears to be sleeping quite heavily. His left arm is curled tightly towards his chest, and his lips are pulled into a pout. He must be tall though, and definitely too big for the laundry basket, which explains the legs sticking way out. 

Somewhat worryingly, Chanyeol’s first thought isn’t _Did this potentially dangerous man break into my house?_ or _Hmm, maybe I should call the police_ because that would be very rational of him. No, Chanyeol’s first thought is _Wow, he’s rather handsome._ ” followed quickly by _“Oh god, this man is some sort of animorph._ ”

But that would be absurd. Wouldn’t it?

Curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to take a closer look. He’s not a complete fool though, because still—for all Chanyeol knows—this man could be a dangerous criminal hiding out among his linens, so he tiptoes to his living room and grabs the first thing he sees that could be construed as a weapon. 

On his way back, Chanyeol scoops up Toben. The dog had been trying to gain entry to the room all morning and scratching his door up while he’s at it. Dog in one hand and RockBand drumstick in the other, Chanyeol pads into the room and kneels in front of the man. Taking a deep breath, Chanyeol gives him one small poke with the drumstick. The result yields no more than a small twitch from the sleeping man. 

Chanyeol frowns. 

Toben doesn’t seem to have any qualms either, and he’s usually one to growl when an untrustworthy person is present. But he’s sitting calmly in his owner’s arms, looking curiously at the man. It makes Chanyeol feel marginally better; they say animals usually know best. 

Chanyeol gives the man a few more pokes in the shoulder and the side, before realizing he’s dealing with a very heavy sleeper. Pocketing the drumstick, Chanyeol decides to leave the man be for the moment until he figures out what to do. 

Once he’s back in the hallway, Chanyeol considers his options. He’s not sure what protocol demands in this situation, but he was planning on calling Kyungsoo about this in the first place and he figures that’s as good of a starting place as any. He dials his friend’s number and counts the rings. 

“My alarm was set to go off in fifteen minutes, this better be good.” Kyungsoo answers on the fifth ring in a voice still heavy with sleep. 

“Does an injured bat turning into a man slash possibly a vampire count as good?”

Kyungsoo sighs on the other line, but he definitely sounds more alert. Chanyeol can hear him shuffling around to sit up in his bed. “You better start from the beginning.”

Chanyeol tells him everything, from finding the poor creature struggling on the side of the road, to somehow having a sleeping man in his house instead of a bat. He leaves out the part about the man being rather handsome because even though it’s a phone call, Chanyeol knows it will only cause Kyungsoo to furrow his eyebrows and look disappointed in him. 

 

 

“So what are you going to do?” Kyungsoo asks, squinting into the room where the strange man is still sleeping, long legs spilling over the laundry basket. As soon as Chanyeol had finished his explanation, Kyungsoo had sighed a very heavy sigh and decided that he needed to see this man for himself. 

“Do you think I should wake him up?”

“What if he’s dangerous?” Kyungsoo always looks at things logically, this is why Chanyeol called him. “You’re absolutely sure he’s not some weird robber who fell asleep halfway through his hit?”

Chanyeol pushes his hands through his hair in frustration. It’s too early to be in this sort of predicament. He still has work to get to in an hour. 

“I’m not sure of anything except or the fact that somehow the bat I rescued last night is gone and this guy is in his place.”

Kyungsoo watches Chanyeol try not to tear his hair out for a moment and then silently enters the room himself. He kneels next to the man and sticks his hand out. It hovers awkwardly for a moment, like Kyungsoo is doubting what he’s going to do, but then he rests it on the man’s bicep and shakes. 

It does nothing more than make the man whimper in his sleep, clutching his left arm even closer and burrowing deeper into the too small basket. Kyungsoo drops his hand and looks back to Chanyeol in befuddlement. 

“Maybe he’s nocturnal,” Kyungsoo offers with a shrug.

“I think his arm is broken.” Chanyeol says, “The left one.” The bat had had a broken left wing, it’s the only explanation. Kyungsoo nods along like he had just come to the same conclusion. “And I—I don’t _think_....something is telling me he’s not dangerous. But I can’t leave him here alone. What happens when he wakes up?”

“I kind of agree but it’s still weird. I’ll go to work and cover for you, say you have the flu or something. That should give you a few days to figure this out.” Kyungsoo is still looking into the room suspiciously. “I’m cutting it close,” he adds with a glance to his watch, “Call me every two hours or I’ll assume you’re dead.”

“Kyungsoo, I’ll be—”

“Every. Two. Hours.”

“Right, fine. Okay.” Chanyeol says, throwing up his arms in surrender.

Kyungsoo nods, finally satisfied, and Chanyeol thanks him profusely as he heads out, assuring him that he’ll be fine and promising to let him know when the man wakes up. But as soon as the door shuts he starts freaking out again. What if the man was hungry when he woke up? If his theory about vampirism is correct…...Chanyeol shudders. Thinking about what his diet would consist of only makes Chanyeol’s stomach flop nervously, so instead he focuses on tidying his place up to give him something else to focus on.

It had really been too long since the place had had a good scrubbing. He starts in the kitchen, getting all the hard to reach in between places and when he finishes he moves on to the living room. In no time the place is spotless. Without anything else to clean, Chanyeol figures he’ll watch a movie while he waits. 

 

 

Chanyeol opens his eyes to the orange glow of dusk settling around him while the credits of whatever movie he had dozed off to roll on screen. He hadn’t even meant to fall asleep considering there was still the matter of his sleeping friend to deal with. Yawning, he sits up and stretches his arms above his head, blinking blearily a few times. 

A small hitch of breath causes Chanyeol to freeze, arms still outstretched, as he finally catches a glimpse of the figure sitting cross-legged in the armchair opposite him. The figure, bathed in shadows and sitting pin straight, is eerily still despite the sound that had alerted Chanyeol to its presence a few seconds prior. Chanyeol drops his arms with a thud, the man from the laundry basket staring back at him.

“Um, hello.” He tries, doing his best to keep his composure.

“You’re awake!” The man says, eyes widening. He sits forward in his chair for a closer look, posture still upright. 

“ _You’re_ awake,” Chanyeol responds. He backs away ever so slightly, feeling a bit probed under the man’s gaze, and then chuckles out an awkward, “I almost thought you were hibernating.”

The man blinks. “No? Why would I be?” Not a fan of jokes then, okay. 

“Uhm, so, my name is Chanyeol.”

“Oh, right,” the man says, looking a bit embarrassed, “Jongin.”

“How long have you been awake for, Jongin?” Chanyeol asks, opting for small talk. He’s not quite sure what else to do at the moment. 

“An hour?” Jongin tilts his head in a thoughtful manner. “Maybe two?”

Oh. 

“What have you been doing?”

“Watching you.”

 _Oh._ The man says it so simply that it catches Chanyeol off guard. Chanyeol who was just sleeping on the couch for two hours. Chanyeol who was practically begging to be killed in his sleep. If Kyungsoo finds this out he might kill him himself.

Kyungsoo.

For a second, Chanyeol panics, fumbling with his phone so he can check the time. He has to give his bi-hourly check-up and he’s certain he’s already late with it. Sure enough, there’s a couple of missed calls and several texts that increase with worry as he scrolls through them. Chanyeol peeks up at Jongin. He stares back with a polite but curious grin. 

“Hey, uh...I have to make a phone call to a friend are you okay? Are you hungry or anything?” He was nothing if not a good host. 

“Just a bit thirsty.”

“Okay, I can get you a glass of water or I think I have a bit of orange juice left in the fridge.” Chanyeol offers. 

“Do you have any blood?” Jongin asks. 

There it is. The answer Chanyeol had half expected and completely dreaded. He pales. 

“Fresh out,” he finally manages with a weak smile. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

 

 

Kyungsoo answers on the first ring. _“Goddammit, Chanyeol.”_ he says in lieu of a greeting, _I thought you were dead._ ”

“Right sorry, but he’s awake now and definitely a vampire.”

There’s a momentary pause. 

_”I’m coming back over.”_ Kyungsoo says, and then adds, _”Does he have fangs? Did he try to eat you? Where is he right now? Are you okay?”_

“Relax, I’m fine.” Despite the calmness with which Kyungsoo spoke, Chanyeol can tell that he’s panicking a bit. “I mean, he did ask me for blood though, what the heck am I supposed to do?”

_”I was already on my way, I’ll be there soon. Just don’t get eaten.”_

Chanyeol says he’ll try not to and then hangs up, heading back to the living room to find Jongin sitting in the same spot. While he was in the other room, Toben had wandered over and is currently sniffing at Jongin’s feet curiously. For one quick moment Chanyeol’s heart seizes and out of instinct he nearly lunges forward to grab Toben into the safety of his arms. But as he watches, Jongin hesitantly holds out his hand, actually giggling a little bit when the dog licks at his fingers, eventually working up the courage to give the pup soft little pats. 

Chanyeol clears his throat softly to make his presence known. Jongin snatches his hand back like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. He stares at Chanyeol wide-eyed and ignores the pup’s continued attempts for attention. 

“It’s okay.” Chanyeol reassures him, “That’s Toben. He loves belly rubs.”

Hesitantly, Jongin resumes his petting. Chanyeol nearly coos at the sight. 

Wait, focus. He’s currently letting a suspected (though almost certainly confirmed) vampire pet his dog and he finds it cute? Chanyeol needs some perspective. 

Eventually, as all dogs tend to do, Toben gets a little too enthusiastic and starts trying for even more cuddles. Toben is used to snuggling with his affectionate owner, so he jumps onto Jongin’s lap trying his hardest to burrow even closer. Jongin, not prepared for the assault, cries out in pain when the dog lands on his left arm and he clutches it closer to him.

Chanyeol had nearly forgotten about the bat’s broken wing—and now arm—in all the excitement. Now that he’s paying attention, Jongin has been cradling it rather tenderly this whole time. Maybe he was just too polite to say anything. 

A polite vampire who giggles when petting dogs and hasn’t drained him of blood yet; this can’t be his real life. Chanyeol must have been dropped into an alternate reality.

Quickly, he grabs Toben off of Jongin and throws him a guilty smile. 

“Your arm is broken right?”

Jongin nods, clutching it a bit tighter. Chanyeol wishes there was something he could do to help. Animals he can deal with but humans?….vampires?....human...oid creatures?...whatever Jongin is, he’s out of his depth. 

“Can you fix it? I need to get back to my clan soon and I can’t fly like this.” 

“I can take you to a doctor.” Chanyeol says, “I’m really only qualified to work on animals.”

“No!” Jongin shouts and then quickly shrinks back, embarrassed at his outburst. “I mean, I would rather you do it.”

“Can you turn back into a bat?” Chanyeol suggests. Then he can take him to work with no problem. And to be honest, he’s kind of curious about the whole deal. 

Jongin shakes his head sadly. “Hurts too much.”

Oh god. Is he pouting? Chanyeol really needs to stop finding this vampire adorable. It’s probably like a stealth tactic or something. Lure the unsuspecting prey in with good looks and cute pouts and then BAM the next thing you know Chanyeol is dinner. For the second time, Chanyeol has to tell himself to focus. 

Yet he doesn’t even get to begin the barrage of questions he has for Jongin when an urgent knock on the door startles both of them. Chanyeol excuses himself, and lets Toben down, opening the door to Kyungsoo. His friend glances at Jongin on the couch and motions for Chanyeol to follow him to the kitchen. 

The second they’re safely in the next room, Kyungsoo rounds on him, almost roughly grabbing Chanyeol’s neck and yanking him down to his height. Chanyeol yelps when cold hands lock around his neck. He was right, Kyungsoo is going to kill him. 

“What are you doing?!” 

“Checking for bite marks, you idiot, what does it look like?”

A thorough check up shows smooth, unbroken skin, so Kyungsoo lets go of Chanyeol’s neck. Chanyeol doesn’t tell him that for a second he absolutely thought Kyungsoo really was going to strangle him for letting his guard down around a potentially dangerous creature. It might hurt his feelings. 

“I would have told you if he bit me,” Chanyeol huffs, rubbing the bit of neck where Kyungsoo had just assaulted him.

“Or now you’re _also_ a vampire and you and your sire are going to take this opportunity to eat _me_.”

“I—What?”

The look Kyungsoo is sporting says _gotcha_ so Chanyeol lets him have it. 

“Anyway, what’s that?” Chanyeol asks, still rubbing his neck and pointing at the small container his friend walked in with. Kyungsoo really wasn’t messing around. 

The question reminds Kyungsoo that he had come bearing gifts, so he quickly sets the small container—a cooler—atop the counter. Giving a quick glance to the door Kyungsoo then asks in a whisper, “He doesn’t have supersonic hearing does he?”

Kyungsoo keeps his voice lowered just in case and opens the cooler, beckoning Chanyeol to take a look inside. Chanyeol shrugs. He hasn’t really had time to get into the logistics of things.

Inside there’s about four pints of blood, all from varying animals. “Hopefully it should be enough to hold him over until we figure out what to do.”

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol nearly shouts, and then repeats himself in a whisper when he remembers they were supposed to be quiet. “You know how hard it is to stock the blood bank how could you steal from it. What about the animals!?”

Kyungsoo snaps the lid shut on the cooler and gives Chanyeol his deadliest glare. Chanyeol knows because he’s been on the receiving end many times. “Honestly, Chanyeol, it’s like you want to die.”

“Okay, okay,” he says, shaking the thought out of his head, “I’m sorry, I want to live. I love you, you’re the best.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo nods, pulling out a pint of blood from the cooler. He then heads to the cabinet to find a glass. From the quick glance Chanyeol got of the label, the blood once belonged to a gorilla. He hopes, for Jongin’s sake, that it’s tasty.

Kyungsoo fills the glass to the brim and then starts poking around Chanyeol’s drawers, obviously searching for something. Chanyeol is just about to offer his help when Kyungsoo finds what he was looking for. Chanyeol’s stash of Krazy Straws. He plops one in the glass with a flourish. Probably with the hope that Chanyeol will never use it again because _you’re a grown man Chanyeol, stop using straws meant for children_. Well he’s right, Chanyeol thinks mournfully, he’s definitely going to throw it out right after this. 

He frowns when Kyungsoo presents the glass to him. Why’d he have to use the green one? That was his favorite. Now it’s ruined forever. 

“Stop pouting,” Kyungsoo says, heading back to the living room, “you have a guest to entertain.”

When Kyungsoo disappears through the doorway Chanyeol quickly hides the rest of his straws so they don’t suffer the same fate. Then he follows Kyungsoo to the living room. There he finds Toben resting comfortably on Jongin’s lap and the vampire coldly refusing the glass of blood.

“Hey Jongin,” Chanyeol says, noting the way the vampire’s posture is angled away, “Kyungsoo was nice enough to bring some blood for you since I was all out.” Kyungsoo throws him a funny look that Chanyeol ignores. Jongin still doesn’t make a move to grab the cup. 

Instead he says, “I’m not a baby,” while eyeing Kyungsoo and the glass with disdain. 

“Come again?”

“You brought me animal blood. Only babies feed on animals.” 

Somehow Chanyeol still gets Kyungsoo’s glare directed at him. He shrugs. How was he supposed to know vampire feeding habits; this morning he thought they were a myth. Kyungsoo sets the glass down in front of Jongin. The vampire makes a _tch_ sound and turns away. Chanyeol is unsure why Jongin is acting like this when he was being perfectly civil before, but now he feels like he needs to fill the awkward silence so he says the first thing on his mind. 

“So you’re a vampire.” It’s a statement rather than a question. He’s been 90 percent sure of this fact all day but he just needs the confirmation. 

“Yes.” The answer is blunt. Jongin eyes him warily. 

“Why haven’t you eaten me?”

“I….,” Jongin swallows, eyes darting to the cup and then back to Chanyeol, “don’t know.” 

“Are you sure you aren’t thirsty?” Chanyeol asks, pushing down the bubble of hysterical laughter that nearly escapes him. He prods the glass further in Jongin’s direction because that answer definitely didn’t terrify him at all. He smiles his most winning smile, hoping it will charm the vampire into drinking. And it must work because Jongin is hesitantly leaning forward and grabbing the cup. 

Both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo sag with relief when the vampire brings the straw to his lips and sips. But their relief is only momentary because Jongin’s face scrunches up almost immediately after he drinks and he makes a terrible retching noise. 

Wordlessly, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo lock worried eyes. 

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asks when the vampire stops gagging. 

“What _was_ that?”

“Gorilla blood.” Kyungsoo answers. “I got it from the blood bank at the zoo. You’re welcome.”

Jongin sets the cup down and pushes it away in disgust. “Well, it tastes terrible.”

“Jongin,” Chanyeol pleads, stepping in before Kyungsoo can retaliate, “it’s all we have. It can’t be that bad, right?”

Sighing, the vampire picks up the glass forlornly, “I need human blood to heal at my normal rate but this will quench the thirst I suppose.” He takes a few more sips, not bothering to mask his distaste.

As they watch Jongin drain the cup, slurping the last of the blood through Chanyeol’s Krazy Straw, Toben shifts in Jongin’s arm causing him to wince. Chanyeol notices and an idea starts forming in his head. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s the best they’ve got. 

“Kyungsoo can help you with that!” he says, pointing to the vampire’s injured arm. 

Two blank faces stare back at him. 

“Your arm,” he explains, as he takes Toben from Jongin’s lap and sets him on the ground. The disgruntled pup leaves to curl up at the side of the couch. “Kyungsoo can set the bones.” 

“Uh...” Kyungsoo begins, but Chanyeol doesn’t let him finish. 

“You were pre-med before switching to veterinary!” It’s a reach but it’s also more credentials than Chanyeol has and at this point it’ll have to do.

“I don’t think that makes me qualified?”

“Well we can’t take him to the emergency room _he’s a vampire_.” Chanyeol covers his mouth and says the last part in a whisper even though Jongin is sitting right in front of him. The fact that he’s a vampire should be explanation enough for Kyungsoo who is currently allowing this fact to sink in as he mulls the situation over. 

“Okay,” he decides and extends his arm to grab Jongin’s, “let me take a look.”

Upon contact, Jongin hisses, the sound startling both of them. Kyungsoo pulls back in alarm as the vampire bares his fangs. But Chanyeol, either very brave or very dumb, decides to step in.

“Jongin,” Chanyeol angles his body to shield Kyungsoo and he puts what he hopes is a comforting hand on the vampire’s knee. Using the same tone he had last night when Jongin was still a bat he says, “Kyungsoo is going to help you and he’s going to be as gentle as he can.” 

Jongin doesn’t stop looking at Kyungsoo warily but at Chanyeol’s urging, his expression softens and he retracts his fangs. With a little more coaxing from Chanyeol he finally allows Kyungsoo to approach him. Chanyeol continues to rub soothing circles on his knee as Kyungsoo assesses the damage with gentle fingers, and he holds the vampire’s hand when Kyungsoo actually sets it. After which Chanyeol splays his fingers out and wiggles them a bit, wondering if he’ll ever regain the feeling in them.

Together, once Kyungsoo finishes, they google how to make a homemade sling. Jongin is back to not letting Kyungsoo touch him so Chanyeol ends up doing all the work while Kyungsoo dictates. The few times he does step in to untangle the mess Chanyeol has made, Jongin glares at him until he’s done. 

Once settled, they try to get some answers out of Jongin but he isn’t being forthcoming with information and Chanyeol can tell Kyungsoo is getting frustrated. Eventually, Kyungsoo gives up and heads for the kitchen to pack his things. Chanyeol then turns on the TV, quickly informs Jongin which channels have the movies, and then follows.

“I’m gonna go,” Kyungsoo tells Chanyeol as soon as he enters the kitchen.

Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, “I don’t think he likes you much.”

“You think?” comes Kyungsoo’s sardonic reply.

But Chanyeol is still confused, “I don’t know why? I mean, he was perfectly nice and polite right before you got here.”

Kyungsoo laughs quietly, “I could think of a few reasons.” 

“Yeah, you should probably go then,” Chanyeol whispers, not unkindly. They’re heading for the front door and he doesn’t want Jongin to know they’re talking about him. Chanyeol really does feel bad for kicking his friend out but the Vampire in his Living Room Situation kind of needs to be dealt with immediately and having Kyungsoo here was getting him nowhere. 

“I’m still expecting updates at least every two hours.” Kyungsoo says when he reaches the doorway. Then his eyes soften with worry, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll call. I’ll be fine.” Chanyeol reassures him, and then pulls his friend in for a hug. “Thank you for everything.” 

“The blood is in the fridge,” Kyungsoo continues when they pull apart, “if there’s any sign that he’ll hurt you just—”

“It’s not supersonic,” Jongin interrupts from where he’s still sitting in his armchair; an afterthought to a conversation long ended. When Chanyeol and Kyungsoo turn to face him, his eyes are focused on the television and he’s ignoring the irritated look Kyungsoo is giving him.

“What?”

“My hearing,” Jongin says, “It’s not supersonic but it’s pretty good.”

He turns to face them with a polite smile. Kyungsoo huffs in annoyance, throwing a meaningful look to Chanyeol and then leaving without saying goodbye to the vampire. 

Jongin is still smiling when Chanyeol closes the door behind him and turns around. 

“What was that?

“My hearing,” he repeats, “it’s pretty good.”

“No,” Chanyeol sighs, frustrated. “Why were you being so rude?”

The vampire simply shrugs so Chanyeol sits on the couch across from him and tries a different tactic. 

“Alright so you have supersonic hearing, any other cool vampire powers?” 

“I said it _wasn’t_ supersonic.” Jongin says focusing back on the movie, “Have you seen _Kingsman_?”

And that’s that on that. 

Trying not to audibly grumble in disappointment, Chanyeol decides to settle down for the movie because, no, he hasn’t seen _Kingsman_.

 

 

Night falls around them as they watch. _Kingsman_ finishes and another movie starts in its place. Jongin’s attention on the screen is just as rapt, but Chanyeol can feel his eyes growing heavy even despite his mid afternoon nap. Somewhere during the third movie he gives in and lets sleep wash over him, the soft glow of the television and the low murmur of sound carrying him off to dreamland. 

When he wakes up it’s early morning and he curses himself for falling asleep on the couch again and waking up with a stiff neck. Jongin is in the exact spot he left him in when he fell asleep last night which makes Chanyeol wonder if he moved at all. 

“Did you watch movies all night?” He asks. His voice is a little croaky with sleep. He sits up and runs a hand through what is, no doubt, a terrible case of bed head. Jongin looks over at him and smiles. 

“Yes, you have a lot.”

“I didn’t know vampires liked movies so much.” Chanyeol thought the comment was innocuous enough but Jongin looks away, his smile gone a little sad. He clears his throat and hopes it takes some of the awkwardness with it, “How’s your arm?”

The pout is back and it’s as cute as ever. Chanyeol doesn’t see how Kyungsoo can still think Jongin is dangerous when he looks like this. “Still hurts.”

Chanyeol suggests more blood but the vampire shakes his head and tells him he won’t be thirsty for at least another week. There’s really nothing for him to do. Jongin had mentioned needing to get back to his family but he can’t fly unless he’s a bat and he can’t turn back into a bat until his arm is healed. 

“What about your family, will they be looking for you?”

“Clan.”  
“Clan?”

“Yes, my clan.” 

“Your clan then, will they be looking for you?”

Jongin sighs, “There are a lot of us and we were...moving so they won’t—I mean, no, probably not. That’s why I need to heal up quickly so I can catch up.”

Chanyeol ponders this. He’s always been one to help a creature in need and Jongin needs him right now. He just doesn’t know what he can do. None of his textbooks covered injuries of supernatural creatures. At least he can offer him a place to stay while he heals. 

“Are you sure more blood won’t help?” Chanyeol suggests again even though he already knows the answer. “I can’t condone feeding on humans but I can take you to the park and we can find a squirrel or a bunny or something. As long as you promise not to kill them and just take as much as you need.”

Jongin is staring at him like he’s grown an extra head and Chanyeol has never been someone who knows when to stop talking, so he barrels on. 

“Unless you need to drain the blood when you’re feeding. I don’t know how it works. But if that’s the case I can’t help you, I’ll be too sad.” 

“Sad?”

Chanyeol nods. He can’t watch an animal die, he’s devoted his studies to making sure they live.

Jongin still looks confused. He tilts his head like Toben does when Chanyeol is trying to get him to roll over. “But animals are gross. It won’t help me heal.”

“What if you used my blood?” The thought comes to him quickly and he says it out loud before his brain to mouth filter kicks in. Jongin hadn’t even confirmed or denied if he needed to drain his victims when he fed. The little voice in the back of his mind calls him an idiot—the one that sounds suspiciously like Kyungsoo.

“What, no!” Jongin refuses. Maybe a little too hastily. 

Chanyeol sniffs under his armpit discreetly when Jongin isn’t looking. Is his scent so bad that it makes his blood unappealing? That should be a good thing right? Still, Chanyeol can’t help but feel a little offended. 

“Sorry, it’s...it’s not you, it’s me.” The vampire explains. 

So definitely him, then. Chanyeol doesn’t know why he sulks. 

“Wouldn’t your boyfriend be mad at you even offering?” That gets Chanyeol’s attention.

“My boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Jongin says through his exasperation, “The small one who brought the disgusting blood.”

“Kyungsoo isn’t my boyfriend.” Where did Jongin come up with that one? Kyungsoo was his best friend, nothing more. 

“You told him you loved him, don’t only couples say that to each other?” Jongin’s tone is verging on annoyance.

Chanyeol isn’t sure what he’s talking about and why Jongin seems so mad about it. Kyungsoo wasn’t as good at expressing his love as Chanyeol was, who had learned to take idiot as the term of endearment it was, and he can’t remember either of them saying anything in front of Jongin. But as he thinks back to last night, he recalls saying it to Kyungsoo when they were whispering in the kitchen together; Chanyeol thanking Kyungsoo for caring about his life. He laughs when he realizes that Jongin had been eavesdropping the entire time. 

“Friends can love each other too.” Chanyeol points out when he’s done laughing. Jongin doesn’t seem convinced.

“In all the movies I’ve watched, the sign of male friendship is fistbumps and chest bumps.They don’t say I love you. Only the couples say that. They make a scene.”

Chanyeol shakes his head, still chuckling a bit, “Well, Kyungsoo is my best friend and I love him.”

“Is he coming back here?” Jongin asks suddenly. His voice is missing all of the disdain it had held for his friend the night before.

“I thought you didn’t like him.” Chanyeol digs around on the couch for a few moments and then comes up, brandishes his phone when he finally locates it. “I can call him?”

Jongin quickly shakes his head no. 

“I just thought...never mind.”

Chanyeol shrugs and then quickly takes a selfie to let Kyungsoo know he made it through the night alive. It joins the string of other reassurances Chanyeol had sent last night as per instruction. Jongin watches, forming a V with his own fingers and staring at them in his lap. 

“It’s a peace sign,” Chanyeol tells him, repeating the action with a wide smile when he catches Jongin’s confusion. “It makes me look cute.”

Jongin doesn’t say anything to that; just staring at Chanyeol wide-eyed. Chanyeol drops his hand, feeling awkward. His stomach growls.

“Can we go to the park anyway?” Jongin asks just when Chanyeol has decided that should probably eat breakfast. 

“Sure,” Chanyeol says, checking his watch. It’s just after nine. “Let me get breakfast first.”

“Oh, it’s ok. We can go later. I’m a bit tired right now.”

Right, nocturnal. 

“When you wake up then?”

Jongin nods eagerly.

Chanyeol shows Jongin his room so he can use his bed. His quip about not having any coffins laying around goes unappreciated. 

Once Jongin is settled, Chanyeol has a bowl of cereal and tries to think about how to kill a couple of hours. He figures he can start with Toben’s morning walk. 

 

 

“So you _don’t_ burn up in the sun?” Chanyeol asks, only for Jongin to tell him no for the tenth time. 

Chanyeol had done some research on vampires while Jongin was sleeping and Jongin had awoken to find him with twenty different tabs open relating to various vampire powers and weaknesses as well as every vampire movie Chanyeol owned on DVD scattered around his feet. That includes his _Twilight_ DVDs which he refuses to be embarrassed about. Everyone had a phase.

He had been so immersed that when Jongin had leaned over and asked what he was doing, Chanyeol jumped about a foot in the air and sent all of the DVDs flying. 

“What about garlic and wooden stakes?” 

“I’ve never encountered them but I think they’re a myth.” 

Jongin stops to peer curiously into a coffee shop, his eyes flickering from table to table, person to person, not quite sure where to settle. They’re on their way to the park just like Chanyeol had promised, but even though Jongin had told him over and over that he would be fine in the sun, Chanyeol made sure they left only after it had completely set. 

“You’ve never encountered garlic?”

“No.” 

They continue on, the five minute walk has turned into twenty since they not only have to stop to let Toben sniff around curiously, but Jongin is easily distracted as well. Chanyeol doesn’t mind though. It’s a beautiful night and the city is alive with a thrum of activity. 

“My clan is...very old fashioned.” Jongin says after a few more minutes of silence. Interrupting Chanyeol’s thoughts about how tragic life would be without garlic bread. “All of this is new to me. You’re the first human I’ve ever met outside of well, feeding. Even then, it was someone else’s job to bring them home to us.” 

The last part sounds a little guilty. Chanyeol doesn’t know if he’s come to terms with the reality of Jongin’s diet, but he’s surprised that the words don’t send a jolt of fear through him. 

“I hope I’m setting a good impression, then.” Chanyeol laughs, gently leading Toben from running after a group of teenagers. 

“You are.” Jongin says. “You saved me. I don’t think I thanked you.”

Chanyeol waves his hand to say _it was nothing_. He would have done it even if it was a regular bat. All creatures are friends, so they all deserve love and care. It was just who he was as a person. 

“How’d you get hurt anyway?”

Suddenly, Jongin becomes very interested in reading the plaque on the bottom of the statue that stands at the entrance to the park. 

“What?” Jongin asks when Chanyeol appears beside him with a sly grin. 

“What happened? Did you run into a window?”

“No!” Jongin huffs, stomping away. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Aw, c’mon.”

“Fine, it was a cat.” Jongin grumbles, “I was flying too low and it—” he mimes the way it must have batted him clean out of the air with his paw. 

Chanyeol does his very best to not laugh at the image of a cute kitten hitting the little bat version of Jongin out of the sky. He was so tiny as a bat, it must have been terrifying. Jongin catches the smile tugging on the corners of his mouth anyway.

“Don’t laugh!” He points at Chanyeol’s barely concealed laughter in accusation. “It was so scary, I was lying there for _hours_ before you came.”

“I must be your hero, then.” Chanyeol laughs. He’s being facetious but Jongin surprises him by nodding along seriously.

“You are.” 

 

 

They take a few laps around the path at the park. Jongin giggles when Toben gets overly friendly and jumps at the others they pass on the path, Chanyeol gets embarrassed when Jongin loudly points out interesting things he thinks the humans in the park are doing. Especially when he uses the word humans to describe them.

More than once, the old woman walking hand and hand with her husband in the opposite direction gives them appalled looks as the pass. 

They’re heading home when a woman darts past them, yelling a man’s name. It’s startling and determined and filled with just a hint of desperation that Chanyeol turns to watch as she catches up to the man she must have been calling for and barrels into him with a hug. She’s not in any distress and the moment looks too intimate, so Chanyeol turns around and continues home. 

He only gets a few steps when he realizes Jongin isn’t following him. In fact, Jongin as made a beeline for the couple and for one terrifying second Chanyeol thinks that the scream set off some primal urge in the vampire and now he sees them as dinner. But Jongin is just...standing there. Watching. 

“Jongin,” Chanyeol calls, “What are you doing?”

“I’m waiting”

“For what?”

“For her to confess.” 

Chanyeol is confused and he has to grab Jongin and drag him away despite protests, since the couple have noticed him and are starting to stare. He smiles at them, strained but polite, as they leave.

“You can’t just watch people, it’s weird.” He tells Jongin once they’re out of earshot. “Confess to what?”

“You know, like the love confession in movies. There are a lot of good ones that happen in parks.” He’s still straining his neck to try and get a look.

Chanyeol laughs. It seems like Jongin gets all of his information about humans from watching movies. No wonder he’s so fascinated. But he can’t really blame him since all of his knowledge of vampires is also from movies. 

“C’mon,” Chanyeol says, leading both Toben and a disappointed Jongin towards the exit of the park, That’s enough people watching for today. Let’s go home.”

 

 

In the next few days, Chanyeol goes back to work; the time Kyungsoo bought him has run out and he thinks he can trust Jongin to be alone by himself during the day. Not that he would be awake for it. 

They meet in the middle every day. Chanyeol wakes up and takes Toben for his morning walk and then has breakfast while Jongin joins him. Well, Jongin doesn’t actually eat since he only needs to feed every week or so, but he sits with Chanyeol at the table any way. Mostly he just stares at Chanyeol in a way that should make him uncomfortable, but Chanyeol is used to it. Jongin goes to bed as Chanyeol leaves for work, always reminding him that the blood Kyungsoo brought is in the fridge should he wake up thirsty. He implores him to only use the already soiled green Krazy Straw. His next favorite is the yellow and Chanyeol doesn’t want that one ruined too.

When he comes home, Chanyeol tells Jongin about his day at work, entertains Jongin’s questions about humans (Jongin entertains Chanyeol’s as well complete with an eye roll and a comment about how humans don’t know anything about vampires) and then when Chanyeol retires, Jongin spends his night watching his way through Chanyeol’s DVD collection. 

Once he’s finished with that—since Chanyeol’s selection isn’t all that impressive and Jongin literally spends all his time watching them—Chanyeol shows him the wonders of Netflix. 

 

 

Chanyeol loves his job. If he could tell his twelve year old self that a regular day at work involved hanging out with lions, he thinks he wouldn’t have believed himself. Today is check up day for Sahar, their teenage male lion. In the past they would have had to sedate him for a blood test, but now it just involves a lot of sweet talking and meatball bribes. Sahar in particular loves the meaty treats and waits patiently for Kyungsoo to draw the blood. 

Chanyeol runs a hand through the beginnings of Sahar’s shaggy mane to keep him calm, his other hand ready with the meatballs to reward their patient for being so cooperative. It’s the voice at work, Kyungsoo claims. There’s no way the lion would be so willing if it weren’t for Chanyeol’s ability to coax him into compliance. Chanyeol just thinks it’s cause they’re buddies. When Kyungsoo finishes, Chanyeol gives Sahar one last meatball and sends him back into the main exhibit. 

Chanyeol is reading over Seulgi’s zookeeper notes and getting sentimental about how fast Sahar is growing when Kyungsoo finishes packing the samples and saddles up to him. 

“So,” he begins with a casual bump to Chanyeol’s side, “how’s your new roommate? Any attempts on your life yet?”

“Ha ha.” Chanyeol says, tucking the notes back into the clipboard, “He’s actually very polite.”

Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows.

“Well, to me.” Chanyeol clarifies. “He’s pretty much an exemplary roommate.”

“Does he clean up after himself? Because if he does then I might ask for a swap. Jongin for Junmyeon.”

Chanyeol laughs. “Please, Junmyeon would die in the garbage piles of his room if you weren’t there for him. You wouldn’t find him for weeks, his death would be on your hands.”

“You’re right.” Kyungsoo says with a solemn shake of his head. He leads them out the back door of the exhibit and onto the regular zoo path. It’s a dreary day so the only people at the zoo are school children on field trips and stay at home mothers who just need to get their toddlers out of the house. They weave through the few people to make their way back to the lab. 

Kyungsoo speaks again once they’re out of earshot of the nosy middle schoolers on a field trip. “So, did you get any new vampire info out of him after I left?”

“Yeah dude, can you believe we’re wrong about almost everything?”

“Really? Like what?”

“Well for one, he can walk in the sunlight.”

“What? That’s like rule number one of vampires.”

“That’s what I said! But I guess it was something novelists made up. Same with garlic and wooden stakes.”

The information hits Kyungsoo hard judging by the confusion and then contemplation that crosses his features as he absorbs it all. Chanyeol understands, it had been a lot to process for him when Jongin had told him. He felt like he had been lied to all his life. Only for the realization to hit that he _had_ been lied to all his life because vampires are real and one was sitting in his living room.

“What about crosses and holy water?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Religious propaganda.”

“Huh.” Kyungsoo hums, “So what did we get right then? I mean, we know he drinks blood.”

“Heightened senses, super strength, shapeshifting—obviously—a longer lifespan.” Chanyeol counts off on his fingers, “Except the jury’s still out on immortality since he got offended when I asked him if he was older than 200. Also supposedly vampires heal faster but it doesn’t seem like his arm has gotten any better since you’ve been there.” 

Chanyeol doesn’t know what else he can do since Jongin refused his blood, but he hates seeing him in pain. 

“He lets you near enough to check on him?” Kyungsoo laughs.

“I told you, he’s nice to me.”

“I bet he has a crush on you. That’s why he hates me, he’s jealous.”

Chanyeol splutters. Jongin having a crush on him? The thought was both thrilling and impossible and it definitely shouldn’t make his chest feel all light and fluttery. Jongin is a _vampire_ and this isn’t some young adult novel. 

“Don’t be stupid.” Chanyeol scoffs once he’s gotten a hold on himself. “He’s just fascinated because I’m a human and he’s never met one before. He said his clan was super traditional. They don’t mingle with us like others do.”

“ _I’m_ a human.” Kyungsoo points out. “Wait, mingle with us?”

“Yeah, do you think Minseok’s a vampire?” Chanyeol says, lowering his voice. Minseok was the new security guard who previously worked night shift. A few months ago they changed his hours and Chanyeol still sees him yawning in the middle of the day. Plus he’s like, freakishly strong. “The signs all add up, and I’ve never seen him eat in the break room with us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Chanyeol. Maybe he just doesn’t want to see you talk with your mouth full.”

“What are you guys talking about?” A new voice comes from behind them and both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol jump nearly a foot in the air when they realize that it’s Minseok himself. 

“Chanyeol’s new roommate has a crush on him.” Kyungsoo says to save face. He dodges the foot Chanyeol juts out to trip him. 

“He does not,” Chanyeol grumbles just as Minseok says, “I didn’t know you had a roommate?”

“Temporary roommate.” Chanyeol says with a glare at Kyungsoo, he can see the laughter swimming around in the other man’s eyes. 

“He hasn’t eaten you yet, so I’d say he’s safe to pursue.” Chanyeol pales. He glances to Minseok warily. The security guard looks terribly confused.

“I’m not pursuing anyone and what have you done with the real Kyungsoo? Just last week you were certain he _was_ going to eat me.” Chanyeol hisses.

“Well, he hasn’t.” Kyungsoo shrugs, “Go for it.”

“Um,” Minseok cuts in a little awkwardly, “I was going to ask if you guys were on your lunch break. I was going to join.” He holds up a brown paper bag that looks like just a regular lunch and not a thermos of blood, “But maybe some other time.”

Once Minseok’s retreating figure is out of sight, Kyungsoo finally bursts into laughter. Chanyeol hangs his head in shame. 

 

 

Jongin is ignoring Chanyeol. He has been since last night and Chanyeol doesn’t know what he did. 

He thought Jongin would love the story about the time Peaches the elephant hugged Kyungsoo with her trunk after they treated her ear infection. Chanyeol even showed him all the cute pictures and videos he had of the moment. But after he showed them to him, Jongin had retreated to the couch and turned on a sad romance film. Suddenly, Kyungsoo’s accusations of a crush are seeming more realistic.

It’s Saturday, and Chanyeol has spent his entire day waiting anxiously for Jongin to wake up. Eventually, the vampire stumbles into the living room just after 5 pm looking rather cute and sleep rumpled. 

“Good evening.” Chanyeol says, receiving a grunt in reply. “How did you sleep? Is your arm doing better?” Another grunt that sounds vaguely positive. Chanyeol presses on, “Are you thirsty? If you need more blood just let me know.” Another grunt, this time negative. Chanyeol sighs, maybe he should try again later. 

“Can you take me to the zoo?” Jongin asks suddenly. The question takes Chanyeol by surprise. Jongin didn’t talk to him for a whole day while he sulked. Plus, Sundays at the zoo are usually busy and he’s not going to lie, he’s a little worried about Jongin in a large crowd like that. When he voices these concerns, Jongin pouts. 

“I did just fine in the park,” he argues. 

It’s true, he did. But there are a lot more people at the zoo. More potential for disaster. 

“You don’t trust me?” Jongin’s face is filled with such dejection that Chanyeol’s heart nearly breaks on the spot.

“Why do you want to go so bad?” He asks. 

Jongin looks up at him and smiles a lovely shy smile, “You talk about it all the time so it must be really great.”

Chanyeol momentarily files away his suspicions that Jongin has ulterior motives. That hit Chanyeol right in the heart. 

“Okay,” he says finally, “we can go.”

 

It’s strange visiting the zoo as a guest instead of an employee. But it’s nice to just enjoy the animals and their exhibits for once without having to worry about their health. Plus, it’s Jongin’s first time seeing all of it and the wonder on his face is worth it all. 

Despite knowing where everything is located, Chanyeol gets a map at the entrance so Jongin can choose where they head first. When it looks like he’s having trouble deciding, Chanyeol has to remind him that they’ll have time to see everything. Eventually, Jongin settles on The Great Bear Wilderness. 

He shouldn’t be surprised that Jongin finds the bears adorable, but it’s cute when he spends nearly ten minutes just watching the zoo’s resident grizzly sleep against the glass of his enclosure. All while Chanyeol takes it upon himself to rattle off fun facts about each of the animals they visit. 

After that, they walk around leisurely for a bit. More than once, Chanyeol has to steer Jongin away from the gift shops that line the pathways. Even though he, himself, caves when he spots a vampire bat plushie that may or may not remind him of Jongin. It’s so cute that he buys it on impulse. 

Chanyeol is proud when they visit the lions and Sahar recognizes him. The lion puts his paw against the glass like he’s confused as to why Chanyeol is on the other side of it. 

“Sorry, no meatballs.” Chanyeol says, miming to the lion and knowing that he won’t be understood.

Sahar then puts both paws on the glass and draws himself up to full height which simultaneously delights Jongin and terrifies a small child. 

“He’ll get over it,” Chanyeol laughs and he puts his own hand on the glass to say goodbye. 

The colorful fish of the Seven Seas habitat have Jongin pressed up against the glass in childlike wonder. Chanyeol kind of feels like he’s in a cheesy romantic comedy since he can’t help the goofy grin he sports when Jongin turns around to point out his favorites. 

The watery glow from the tank seems to soften the vampire’s sharp features and the refracting light that falls across his face makes him look even more beautiful than normal. Jongin is so precious that it’s easy to forget that he could possibly be a killing machine. Though that’s not really fair, is it? Jongin has been nothing but lovely this whole time. Chanyeol might be catching feelings for a vampire.

 

 

They run into Kyungsoo at the giraffe enclosure. 

He’s hurrying by to get the zookeeper notes on Titan, their newest calf, but he stops for a little catch up when Chanyeol calls to him. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be off today?” Chanyeol asks once Kyungsoo has jogged over to them. 

“Wendy had a family emergency so I’m covering,” he explains. Then he catches sight of who Chanyeol is with. “Hey, Jongin.”

Jongin crosses his arms and looks away. Chanyeol frowns as he watches Jongin wander away to get a closer look at the giraffes; he thought they had gotten past this. When he turns back to Kyungsoo, his best friend is giving him a knowing look. 

“Shut up,” Chanyeol mutters. 

They talk for a few more minutes before Kyungsoo decides that he should probably get back to work. 

“Bye, Jongin!” Kyungsoo calls, and then lowers his voice and winks at Chanyeol, “Enjoy your date.”

“He can probably hear you,” Chanyeol whines, but Kyungsoo is already five yards away.

“I know!” He shouts over his shoulder with a laugh. 

Chanyeol hopes his face isn’t as red as it feels. 

 

 

They’re watching the wolves being fed when a breeze kicks up and swirls around them. It ruffles up Chanyeol’s carefully styled hair, but the mid afternoon sun is unforgiving and therefore Chanyeol welcomes it. Beside him, Jongin stiffens. 

When Chanyeol turns to ask him if he’s okay, he notices that Jongin has put a few inches in between them where previously the vampire had been practically attached to him. He tries not to let it get to him, but it continues like this for the rest of the afternoon. At first Chanyeol had thought that Jongin was maybe just a bit tired since he hadn’t slept in almost 24 hours. But now, Chanyeol tries to lean over to tell Jongin a funny story about Ramar, their western lowland gorilla, and Jongin flinches away. 

Even on the ride home Chanyeol takes notice of the way Jongin has angled his body away. He’s even rolled down the window to stick his head out. 

Is this because they ran into Kyungsoo? It’s an obvious explanation now that he’s thinking about it. Especially given his reaction at the zoo. He had thought that he made it clear to Jongin that while he loves his best friend, their relationship was strictly platonic. 

“Kyungsoo and I aren’t dating.” Chanyeol says as soon as they step back inside his apartment. 

Jongin snaps his head towards Chanyeol, obviously taken aback by the statement. 

“I know.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?” Chanyeol can’t help the miserable tone in which the question tumbles out. 

This, too, seems to shock the vampire but he doesn’t say anything. 

“Whatever,” Chanyeol grumbles, getting up to move his pity party to the kitchen, “I’m getting a drink.”

He makes his way to the fridge, looting around for the last of the six pack he knows is still in here and lamenting the fact that he should probably clear out his leftovers soon. There’s hardly any space left. 

Finally, he locates the bottle in the back of the fridge. He reaches his arm back for it and ends up knocking off the lid to Jongin’s cooler of blood. More frustrated than ever, Chanyeol pulls out the cooler so he can fit the lid back on properly and not mess up his precarious balance of tupperware. 

He pauses when he looks inside though. That’s strange. Jongin told him that he needs to feed once a week but there’s still two unopened pints of blood left in here. Jongin has been with him for at least a month. 

The truth hits Chanyeol with sudden clarity. The wind ruffling his hair, the silence, how Jongin refused to be near him. 

Jongin is thirsty. 

 

 

“Jongin?”

Chanyeol finds himself back in the living room, a pint of blood in each hand. He stares at them, slowly raising his eyes to the vampire on the couch. 

“Have you not been drinking these?”

Jongin looks at him from his spot on the couch, all curled up and making him seem smaller than he is. There’s guilt riddled all over his face. 

“They’re really gross,” he says, voice equally small. 

“What have you been drinking then?” Chanyeol asks. He hopes Jongin will tell him that he snuck out to the park and caught a rabbit or something, but he knows the answer. He can’t believe he walked a thirsty vampire through crowds of unwitting people today. 

“I tried the tiger blood,” Jongin says, “I thought it might be better than the other one but it was just as gross. I’m sorry.”

“Jongin,” The vampire looks up at him. He’s pouting again, but now is definitely not the time for Chanyeol to get distracted by his cuteness. Chanyeol remembers how Jongin had tensed up when the breeze blew by them. “Does my blood smell good to you?”

He nods. “All blood. But yours especially.”

“Right.”

Chanyeol wonders why that doesn’t terrify him as much as it had on the first day they met. Maybe it’s because Jongin has had a month to kill him and he hasn’t yet. Chanyeol _knows_ he won’t. 

“What if you had some of mine?” He sets the animal blood bags on the dining room table and steps forward. He cocks his head to the side to expose his neck and the action makes Jongin all but leap out of his chair. The sudden movement startles poor Toben, who had been napping at Jongin’s feet. 

“No!”

“Why not?” Chanyeol asks, startled enough to halt his movement forward. For a few moments they stand on opposite ends of the room in a stare down. Toben, now awake and curious, starts yapping at Jongin’s feet, effectively breaking the tension. Jongin finally looks away and sighs. 

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He says, voice small. 

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol reassures him. He wants to do this. He wants to feel like he’s actually doing something to help. “I trust you.”

Such an open and honest statement shocks the vampire and Jongin’s eyes snap back up to Chanyeol again as if assessing the genuineness of it. Chanyeol does his best to make his smile encouraging, and Jongin’s defences are crumbling. 

Yet, when Chanyeol takes another step forward, Jongin seems to come back to himself. He takes his own step back, shaking his head in adamant refusal. Chanyeol takes another step forward, this time with a concerned look on his face. Just as he’s about to speak, Jongin takes another step back not realizing the couch is behind him. Chanyeol watches in horror as Jongin tries sidestepping it just as Toben darts behind his legs. Off balance and panicked, Jongin trips, his left foot coming down hard on Toben’s tail. 

“Tobennie!” Chanyeol’s heart does a painful flip when the dog lets out a horrific howl. He rushes towards Toben, momentarily forgetting about Jongin. He murmurs quiet reassurances, trying to calm Toben down enough to check the dog’s tail. As Chanyeol shifts, he catches sight of Jongin. In his panic over Toben, he completely forgot just how hard a fall Jongin must have took. Chanyeol starts to ask if Jongin is okay, but Jongin interrupts him. 

“I-I’m sorry.” Jongin rushes out of the room before Chanyeol can say anything.

 

 

It’s much later when Chanyeol realizes that he hasn’t seen Jongin since Toben got hurt and the vampire is probably feeling really bad about it. It was only an accident, but Chanyeol thinks he should go and reassure him anyway. 

He checks the bedroom first, assuming that Jongin had gone to sleep after such a long day, but the bed is empty and the blankets are still mussed up in the exact way Chanyeol had left them this morning. 

“Jongin?” He calls. No answer. A little spike of worry runs through Chanyeol. Sad and thirsty isn’t the best state to be left in, and his apartment isn’t that big, so there aren’t many places he could have gone. 

Chanyeol searches the few remaining rooms with no luck and with no clue as to where he could have gone. Eventually he gives up and returns to his bed, flopping onto his back. He lies there for a moment feeling hopeless, when a movement catches his eye from the corner of the room. He chuckles softly; there’s a vampire bat hanging from the curtain rod above his window. 

“Jongin,” he calls, sitting up on the bed, “please come down.”

The tiny bat titters. Chanyeol takes that to mean no.

“Jonginnie,” he coaxes again; this time he uses the voice he uses on his patients at work. He gets up to stand underneath the rod, arm outstretched. “Toben is okay, I’m not mad at you.”

It takes a bit more cajoling and a few head rubs for Jongin to finally crawl into Chanyeol’s outstretched hand. And when he does, Chanyeol pulls him in close to whisper that he’ll figure out a solution for the blood thing. Then he places Jongin’s small bat form onto his shoulder where the bat promptly nestles into Chanyeol’s neck. It tickles a bit, but Chanyeol just gives him a few reassuring pats. Jongin is out like a light as soon as he gets comfortable. He supposes that’s a thank you. 

 

 

Since Jongin had been awake for nearly 24 hours, Chanyeol lets him sleep on his shoulder while he gets dinner started. He thought about bringing him back to his room and hanging him back on the curtain rod or even bringing out the laundry basket he had laid him in on his first day here, but having Jongin curled into his neck was strangely comforting. Not to mention that he looked really cute and Chanyeol didn’t have the heart to move him. 

Chanyeol had sent a quick text to Kyungsoo while he was looking for Jongin so that he could complain about their blood situation, but he was totally unprepared for Kyungsoo to show up when he was halfway through cooking dinner to bring him more blood. Chanyeol puts his finger to his lips and points to the sleeping bat on his shoulder to ensure that Kyungsoo keeps his voice down and then ushers him inside.

“What are you doing here?”

Kyungsoo opens up a cooler similar to the one he had brought over the first time, and reveals a few more pints of blood. 

“He hates the animal blood,” Chanyeol says, “You know that.” Still, he’s grateful for all of his friend’s help. 

“Nope,” Kyungsoo replies with a smile, “This is 100 percent certified human blood that’s not directly from the tap.” He pokes the side of Chanyeol’s neck and Chanyeol swats him away, scared that he’ll wake up Jongin. 

“How did you even get this?”

“Pulled some favors with Junmyeon.” That’s right, Kyungsoo had met his roommate when they were in med school together. Kyungsoo smiles, “Okay, I should go. See you at work tomorrow.”

“No encouraging message telling me not to die?”

Kyungsoo takes another look at the sleeping bat. “Nah,” he whispers, “you’ll be okay.”

Kyungsoo is long gone and the sauce is simmering on the stove when Chanyeol has a thought. It started because Jongin shifted on his shoulder and Chanyeol’s attention wandered back to when he first found Jongin on the side of the road, injured and pitiful. He wonders where Jongin’s clan is now. He had been so worried about catching up with them. But he couldn’t fly without the use of his wings. 

His wings. From his bat form. That Jongin had expressly told him was too painful to change into because his left one was broken. Bat Jongin might be too cute to move, but right now Chanyeol needs some answers. 

Gently, he pulls Jongin off his shoulder and jostles him awake. The small bat stirs sleepily. Chanyeol doesn’t know how to go about this tactfully, so he just dives right in. 

“Jongin,” the bat stops his drowsy fidgeting at the tone in Chanyeol’s voice, “is your arm healed?”

Chanyeol almost thinks he’s imagining the little pout that the bat is sporting. 

“Can you change back?” He asks. “I want to talk to you.”

Jongin’s transformation isn’t the puff of smoke Chanyeol had been envisioning. Instead, the small body of the bat begins swirling and elongating in front of him; everything a complete blur until Jongin’s human form starts taking shape. Chanyeol has to blink several times as he watches to be sure his eyes aren’t playing tricks on him. 

The whole process only takes a few seconds, and at the end Jongin stands before him looking appropriately shameful. Slowly, he takes off his homemade sling and avoids Chanyeol’s eyes.

Chanyeol leans forward to examine Jongin. He runs a hand down his arm and it seems to be in good condition. Jongin is tense, as if he’s bracing himself for a scolding. Chanyeol uses his finger to lift Jongin’s chin. He wants to look in his eyes. 

“You’re totally fine?” He asks. “No more pain?”

Jongin nods.

“I’m glad.” Chanyeol can’t help the wide grin that spreads on his face. “How long?”

“What?”

“How long has it been healed?”

Jongin let’s his eyes drop again. “About three days after I got here,” he whispers. 

Chanyeol barks out a surprised burst of laughter. Three days? He had been expecting Jongin to say last week or a couple of days ago. But three days means Jongin has been faking his injury for a while.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Chanyeol is still laughing, he can’t help it. 

“I didn’t want to go.” Jongin mutters softly. 

“But what about your clan? I thought you wanted to get back to them?” He had been so adamant about it so Chanyeol is a bit confused.

“They were never looking for me,” Jongin admits, “I left on my own because I didn’t like how strict they were. I was just saying that because—I don’t know it made sense at the time. I’m sorry I lied to you.” Jongin says, brushing past Chanyeol. He’s at the door when Chanyeol realizes what’s happening, abruptly stopping his laughter. 

“Where are you going?” He grabs Jongin’s arm to stop him from reaching the door. 

“I’m leaving, I—I don’t really have a reason to be here anymore.” He bites his lip and looks away. “You probably hate me.”

“Why would I hate you?”

Jongin shrugs. But Chanyeol sees it from his point of view. Any normal person would probably be mad about the lying. Good thing Chanyeol isn’t normal, he just finds the whole thing mostly touching.

“Well you can’t leave yet, you haven’t finished your Netflix queue. I’d say that’s as good a reason as any.”

Jongin looks back up at Chanyeol, “Are you sure? What about….” he trails off, swallowing hard. 

Oh, right. Chanyeol had almost forgotten about the blood that Kyungsoo brought over. He pulls a pint from the fridge and brandishes it towards Jongin.

“You’re gonna have to start being nicer to Kyungsoo.”

Jongin chuckles softly, looking up at Chanyeol through his lashes with a guilty smile. 

 

 

“Get up, Jongin, we’re going to the park!” Chanyeol jumps onto the bed where Jongin is currently sleeping and starts bouncing around like a little kid. Jongin groans and rolls over. He opens one eye to peek at Chanyeol when he doesn’t let up. 

“It’s midday,” he whines. He squints into the sun beam that falls across his face and then buries himself farther into the covers. Toben leaps onto the bed and starts licking his face. 

“Yes,” Chanyeol says. He flops down right next to the Jongin lump under the covers. 

“I’m sleeping.” His reply is a bit muffled from under the covers. 

“Not anymore.” 

Chanyeol yanks down the covers and smiles at Jongin with all his teeth. Jongin whines in defeat. 

“Alright, fine.”

Chanyeol’s grin gets impossibly wider. He scrambles to the door in excitement. 

“Get dressed.”

 

There are flower blossoms in all of the trees lining the pathway at the park. And with the occasional petal falling, the scene is quite picturesque. Yet even with all of the beautiful nature in front of him, Chanyeol can’t stop looking at the sleepy way Jongin rubs at his eyes as he lets Toben practically drag him through the park. Chanyeol would feel bad for waking Jongin up in what is basically the equivalent of the middle of the night for him, except he brought him here for a good reason. 

They walk in silence for the most part, broken up by Chanyeol occasionally pointing out various flowers, animals, or people that he thinks Jongin might find interesting but Jongin is pretty out of it. Chanyeol decides that he should probably commence his plan soon or else Jongin will fall asleep on him. 

Jongin doesn’t notice that Chanyeol has stopped walking until he’s already about fifteen yards ahead of him. Even then, it’s only brought to his attention because Toben has run himself in a circle around Jongin, tangling him up and forcing Jongin to do a funny little twirl to get out of it. Then he does another when he realizes that Chanyeol is no longer beside him. He spins round and round until he finally spots him standing on a park bench fifty feet away. Chanyeol has been giggling to himself from his perch for the past two minutes as he watched. 

“What are you doing up there?” Jongin calls, squinting at Chanyeol’s figure which is backlit by the sun. 

“I’M CONFESSING!” Chanyeol gleefully yells back. 

Jongin does another confused twirl, as if searching for another person Chanyeol could be talking about. _To me?_ he mouths, pointing at himself. Chanyeol nods with a laugh. Who else.

Chanyeol cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, “I LIKE YOU, JONGIN!” at the top of his lungs. 

In a flash Jongin is by his side, a bit quicker than what he thinks is normal human speed. He hopes no one saw that particular detail. Jongin is tugging at his arm to get him to come down. He looks a little embarrassed at the attention, even if it’s just some weird looks from a few passerbys. 

“Why here?”

“I’m making a scene,” Chanyeol tells him, waving his arms and refusing to get down, “Just like in the movies.”

Jongin’s mumbled protest is drowned out by Chanyeol announcing once again that he likes Jongin, “HE’S CUTE AND HE’S SWEET AND HE DIDN’T TRY TO KILL ME THE FIRST DAY I MET HIM.”

Chanyeol is rather pleased with himself. “This is the part in the movie where everyone would clap, but people in real life don’t actually care,” he tells Jongin.

There were far too many weirdos making scenes in the city every day for them to care about whatever Chanyeol had to say. So besides the two teenage girls on the park bench opposite Chanyeol that sighed dreamily at everything he was saying, most people were ignoring them completely. 

“Good. It’s more embarrassing than I thought it would be,” Jongin grumbles. Then he looks up at Chanyeol, “Okay, get down here.”

“Why?” Chanyeol is still laughing at how embarrassed and put out Jongin looks. 

“Isn’t this the part where we’re supposed to kiss?”

“No, I think you’re supposed to come up here.” Chanyeol tries teasing, but the words are barely out of Chanyeol’s mouth before Jongin is grabbing the fabric of his shirt and yanking. It forces the top half of Chanyeol’s lanky body into an awkward bend and Jongin has to get on his tiptoes to press their lips together because Chanyeol is _still_ too tall. 

“So you’re accepting my confession, then?” Chanyeol says as he pulls away.

“Was that not obvious?”

“Just checking.” Chanyeol says, finally hopping down from the bench and slinging an arm around Jongin. He grabs Toben’s leash from Jongin and gets them moving towards home. 

“So now what happens?” Jongin asks around a yawn, “They never show this part in the movies.”

“Now is the Happily Ever After, duh.”

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are always appreciated!! thanks for reading!!


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